Date:	Sunday 31 May 1931
Time:	day
Type:	Cierva C.19 Mk II
Owner/operator:	Cierva Autogyro Co Ltd
Registration:	G-AAKZ
MSN:	5134
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield, Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex
Destination airport:	Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire (EGCJ)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
First registered 9.8.29 as G-AAKZ to the Cierva Autogyro Co. Ltd., Hamble, Hampshire (C of A 2247/C of R 2119). This variant (the Mk.II) was powered by a 78 kW (105 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major radial piston engine. The Genet Major engine was used on all further variants. Three were built: G-AAKY, G-AAKZ and G-AALA. G-AAKZ crashed at Meopham, Kent on 21.7.30: repaired and returned to service.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire 31.5.1931; On Sunday, 31st May 1931 the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club held an air pageant at their aerodrome site at Sherburn in Elmet. Many thousands of people visited to see various aeroplanes doing flying exhibitions and pilots competing in races. One of the aeroplanes brought to the show was an autogyro owned by the Cierva Autogyro Co Ltd of Hamble.

During the afternoon the autogyro was demonstrated over the pageant. How long the demonstration lasted is unclear but during the flight it made a near vertical ascent, descended slowly to around 100ft then moved forward prior to another ascent. As it moved forward it appears to have then passed over the crowd. The pilot banked the machine to make a turn but during this a gust of wind was thought to have caught the rotor causing a stall and the autogyro began to fall. The pilot managed to steer away from the crowd but it crash-landed heavily twenty yards from them and was damaged. The pilot sustained injuries including a serious head wound that required hospital treatment.

Pilot - Flight Lieutenant Harry Methuen Schofield RAFO. Injured (pilot sustained head injuries). According to a published report in "Flight" Magazine (26.6.31 page 610):

"Flight-Lieut. H. M. Schofield flying again

FLIGHT-LIEUT. SCHOFIELD, who had the misfortune to crash in his Autogiro at Sherburn-in-Elmet on May 31, has now recovered, and is, we are glad to say, flying again. Everyone will be pleased to hear that there were no serious complications to his head wound and that his recovery is complete."

Registration G-AAKZ cancelled by the Air Ministry 2.9.31 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft".

As for the pilot, Harry Schofield, (born November 1899) he recovered to fly again, published two books, one co-written with Biggles author W.E. Johns, finally giving up flying in 1939 as a result of several serious head injuries sustained throughout his flying career. Married with four children, Schofield turned to farming during World War II, before suffering a massive stroke from which he never fully recovered. He died in December 1956, a few days after his 56th birthday. and was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium.

1. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/75-register-gb-g-aa
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AAKZ.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
4. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000291005.html
5. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/ah1900/avawprod.html
6. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/Accidents/May31.html
7. http://download.muzo.cz/pz/hp/hpi/0001-0500/0280.jpg
8. http://www.volaticum.com/en/bibliography-of-aeronautics-1931.htm
9. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york31/aakz.html
10. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1931/1931%20-%200656.PDF
11. Biography of pilot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Methuen_Schofield
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherburn-in-Elmet_Airfield#Pre-War_and_Wartime_history

Pilot of G-AAKZ: Flight Lieutenant Harry Methuen Schofield RAFO in September 1927

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Nov-2017 19:30	Dr. John Smith	Added
19-May-2024 09:51	Nepa	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Operator, ]
19-Sep-2025 14:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]